Bills linebacker Lorenzo Alexander joined Howard and Jeremy on Friday before Sunday's matchup with the Packers

While the Buffalo Bills are being built and, presumably, moving towards a younger wave of players, the veterans on the squad still have a huge role for the development and current success of this team. Linebacker Lorenzo Alexander is a huge example of that on the defense.

It’s no secret that the team, as a whole, was a disappointment before they blew out the Minnesota Vikings last week, 27-6 on the road. What really worried fans the most, however, was just how bad the defense looked through those first two weeks, when it was thought before the season that they were supposed to be the strength of this team. With 78 points allowed through two weeks, doubts crept in.

Then the defense only allowed six points in Minnesota, to go along with only three points allowed in the final two quarters against the Los Angeles Chargers the week before, and the unit looked like what it was supposed to look like this season.

“It’s a game of inches.” Alexander said with Howard Simon and Jeremy White on Friday morning. “You can mishit a gap and not get a guy, or you could do the same exact thing and then somebody else comes off and makes a great play and tackles a guy, and that’s really the difference in the NFL.

“Those are the things that guys are starting to do. We’re starting to raise our game up, starting to play at another level and when you do that things just seem to go better, you cover things up, you find yourself in right places, and that’s what we want to continue to do.”

This really was the formula for winning, especially this year. The main mindset and goal of the season is to have rookie quarterback Josh Allen progress and improve over the year and let the defense do their job to get the offense back on the field and put some points on the board. Last week was that exact formula. Allen had a solid game, and the defense forced three turnovers of Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins to give the offense great field position. When they weren’t forcing turnovers, the defense was shutting down a high-powered Vikings offense who just put up 31 points against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.

“You can see Josh and the offense starting to come along.” said Alexander. “He’s getting his confidence and they’re moving the ball, putting up some points. As long as we do our job, the game is going to be close and we’re going to have the chance to win at the end.”

While it was relieving to see the Bills win in such a blowout fashion on Sunday, there is still a lot of work ahead for the team moving forward. The Bills have another golden opportunity to prove themselves this week on the road against Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. While he may be battling through injuries, Rodgers still can be a deadly threat to Alexander and the Buffalo defense.

“When you see it on film, he’s out there limping around but he’s going to make the play that he needs to do.” said the 35-year-old veteran linebacker. “He’s going to put his team in the best position to win whether or not he has to sacrifice his body or not.”

The defense will need to be on their A-game once again this week if the Bills want to have an opportunity to get back to .500 and continue to change the narrative of this season.

You can listen to Alexander's entire interview with Howard and Jeremy below: